Welcome

Welcome to The Recording Industry online. This is an introductory course to familiarize you with the current state of the industry. This class will be taught 100% online. Prior to today you should have received information about the BlackBoard home page, http://bb.wpunj.edu. The first day of class is Tuesday September 1, 2009.

We will NOT meet individually or as a group at any time during the course. Our class will “meet” through logging on to BlackBoard, a program that will serve as my vehicle for delivering the class to you. In a sense, Blackboard will be our “classroom” for the journey ahead. I will provide information, give assignments, and conduct discussions through BlackBoard. For instructions regarding using BlackBoard, please refer to the various help links contained on the BlackBoard home page http://bb.wpunj.edu/. For more information, please refer to the contact information at the end of this letter.

Course Materials

The course materials for this class will be a number of music and entertainment business websites and blogs, plus additional materials that will be posted in Course Documents by me. We will have weekly discussions at a particular time (usually late night) and these Virtual Classrooms will be recorded for review. You will also be required to complete weekly assignments and since this is only a one credit course, the assignments will not be lengthy.

Course Structure

Assignments will be assigned weekly, and will be comprised of readings, searches, and answering questions.

Early each week, you will log on and check for new “Announcements” regarding class, then proceed to Assignments. You will complete assignment by the due date and post answers on Course Discussion Board. Each week, I will interact with you by reacting to the posting on the Course Discussion Board. Since this is not a required course, I will assume that your interest in the subject is very high, and you will be eager to participate. You will be required to complete the assignments and stay in pace with the class. Work will be required. Past students have really enjoyed the course.

The quizzes and exams will be completed online. There will be an announced timed “window” when they will be available for completion. The tentative exam schedule will appear in the course syllabus, located in Syllabus.

Contact Information

Contact me via e-mail marcones@wpunj.edu at anytime you have a question. Please do not contact me for help with any technology-related problems. I will not be able to help.

How to Access Blackboard:

To log on to bb, point your web browser to http://bb.wpunj.edu and click the Login button in the upper left. Then enter your username and password in the spaces provided and click login again -- you'll find your course bb sites listed on the right.

Some things to be aware of as you work with Blackboard:

You probably won't find all your courses listed; the only ones that will appear are those that have been activated by the professor teaching the course. Professors who don't use Blackboard will not activate their courses.
Your username is comprised of your last name and first initial, usually appended with a numeral. If you don't know your WPUNJ system username password you can use the Username lookup link at http://bb.wpunj.edu , or go to it directly at: https://webapps.wpunj.edu/misc/username_lookup/username_lookup.cfm
If you are already logged in to the WPUNJ system through WPConnect you won't have to re-enter your username and password -- just click the first login button.
Extensive documentation can be found at Bb Home, http://bb.wpunj.edu/
You can always obtain Bb help by using the Problem Report form at http://bb.wpunj.edu , or by going to it directly at: http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/bb/sc/ .

If you continue to experience difficulty, contact Robert Harris, Assistant Director of Academic Technology at harrisr@wpunj.edu.

WPUNJ Student Email:

To log on to WPUNJ Student Email point your web browser to http://student.wpunj.edu and enter your username, then RETURN. A dialogue box will pop up, into when you re-enter your username and password, then RETURN.

Some things to be aware of as you work with Student email:

Blackboard courses will use student email; third-party email addresses will not work on bb.
If you are already logged in to the WPUNJ system through WPConnect you won't have to re-enter your username and password -- just click the Email tab.

Good luck and enjoy yourself.